


Reunited at Last

by Oslock



Category: Doctor Who (2005), whouffle - Fandom
Genre: F/F, F/M, Human AU, Modern AU, Whouffle all the way!, written to get rid of writters block
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-28
Updated: 2015-05-15
Packaged: 2018-03-19 23:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3628269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oslock/pseuds/Oslock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clara and John were childhood friends, but when Clara's parents moved to Blackpool, they were seperated. But as if by chance, they are reunited when Clara moves to London, and ends up moving next door to him. As they begin to rekindle their friendship, they must both come to terms with the fact that things aren't the same as they were 10 years ago.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reunited at Last

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think, and if I should continue to write this fic!  
>  Description:  
>  Clara and John were childhood friends, but when Clara's parents moved to Blackpool, they were seperated. But as if by chance, they are reunited when Clara moves to London, and ends up moving next door to him. As they begin to rekindle their friendship, they must both come to terms with the fact that things aren't the same as they were 10 years ago.  
>  Other relationships include Amy + Rory, and possibly mentions of Ten + Rose.

  
_Why did I bother moving house? It's too much trouble!_

_Though technically I'm only moving apartments._

_But still, is it always this hard?_

Clara Oswald was beyond annoyed at this point.

Getting the sofa and chairs in proved to be an absolute nightmare, then it turned out she lost some of the screws for the desk, so only the bed had come in one shape and didn't prove to be too difficult.

As soon as the two chairs, sofa and desk, along with the fridge and most of the cutlery, plates and pans were un-packed, her stomach starts to growl.

It then occurs to her that she hasn't had any breakfast, and there is no food in the fridge.

After five minutes of rummaging through boxes, she eventually finds her coat and bag and walks out the door.

* * *

Crash. Bang. Wallop.

The noise coming from next door is never-ending!

Five hours solid, and it still hasn't stopped.

THUD

"Right, that is it!" John Smith yells, not bothered if the person next door can hear him.

Grabbing the keys, he runs to the door, slamming it shut behind him and running down the stairs towards the main reception.

"Excuse me, I'd like to complain about a noisy neighbour." he addresses the women behind the desk.

"Mr Smith, as I'm sure you are aware, someone is currently moving in next door to you, I do apologize for the disturbance, but they cannot help it." The woman formally replies.

"Am I allowed to know the name of my new neighbour?" he asks through gritted teeth, as I'm sure we'll be having arguments later...

"Very well, but don't think I can do this all the time..." she taps away at her computer. "...Clara Oswald."

John feels his heart skip a beat, and for a moment he is sure he's misheard her.

Did she just say...

"Clara Oswald? Did you just say Clara Oswald?" he manages to speak past the lump in his throat.

"Yes. Do you know her?"

You bet I know her.

She was the closest person to me in my childhood, she was the one who dragged me out of my lonely hole.

The Impossible Girl, she's back.

Instead of answering her question, he just runs back toward the stairwell, up the four flights of stairs, and bangs on the door next to his.

After several seconds, there's no answer.

"Oh no come on, as soon as I know it's you you leave the apartment, typical." he mutters to himself.

With a huff, he slumps back to his own apartment.

Clara's arms are literally about to drop off as she lugs all the plastic bags into the new apartment.

As soon as she puts them down, the doorbell rings.

Strange, no one knows I live here do they?

The ringing continues, so she steps over the bags towards the door.

The person has now taken to a repeated knocking.

"Hello, yes. I hear you. Yep. Uh huh!" she shouts towards the door.

"Hello." Clara pulls the door open.

A tall, slender man, with floppy brown hair covering his green, somehow familiar eyes, is on the other side. He's dressed in a long purple tweed jacket, a grey waistcoat over his white shirt, complete with a purple bowtie.

"Clara. Clara Oswald?" He pants, hands still in the air.

"Hello."

"Clara Oswin Oswald!" He flaps his hands around excitedly.

"Just Clara Oswald, what was that middle one?" she asks.

"Do you remember me?" He bursts.

She shuffles slightly on the spot, eyeing him up and down.

"No. Should I, who are you?" Clara asks, though there is definitely something familiar about him.

"John. John Smith, The Doctor?" he replies, almost frantic, his faint eyebrows creased in worry and slight hurt.

"John? John!" Clara bursts, equally as excited as him, as an image finally crosses her mind.

John Smith, my childhood friend.

The one I played imaginary games with throughout my time in primary school.

He laughs, stepping through the door and pulling her into a tight hug, Clara wraps her arms around his neck, squeezing so tight she thinks she might choke him.

"How long has it been?" Clara asks once they pull apart.

"Looking at you, not very long." his eyes widen when he realizes how bad that sounded, Clara just laughs, he hasn't changed, he's still the child he was ten years ago.

"No, I didn't mean it like that, of course you've changed, you're older, no not like that-"

"Calm down, it's been, what? Ten years?"

"Yeah."

There's an awkward silence for a moment, which Clara tries to break.

"How have you been?" Clara asks.

"Bit lonely after you first left, but now I'm a photographer, and I eventually made friends after you left."

A stab of guilt surges through her by the way he says eventually, which she tries to cover up.

"How 'bout you?" He asks.

Clara stumbles over her words for a moment unsure of whether to mention about when she first left.

"Start looking for a job soon I hope, took forever to save up enough to get by for the first few months. I was a babysitter for a family friend till I decided to move." Clara replies.

"Good, good." He nods.

"So do you wanna go for a walk or something, have a catch up?" He asks, eyes full of hope.

"I can't. I just got a load of shopping and I need to put it away, it's covering the entire floor." Clara replies sheepishly.

"I can help with that!" And before she can reply, he steps past her and heads towards the kitchen, yep, same old John.

"What was with all the banging this morning?" He asks, picking up a bag and placing it on the counter.

"You heard that huh?" she gives an apologetic grimace, copying his action with the bag.

"I think they heard it in Australia." He jokes, and she throws a bag of lettuce leaves at him.

"Oi!" He throws it back, but she quickly catches it, laughing.

"How did you know it was me living here?" Clara asks, suddenly realizing he came knowing it was her living here.

He seems to hesitate for a moment.

"I was going to complain about you being a noisy neighbour, but when the woman at the desk told me who you were, I changed my mind."

"Oh." Is all she can say.

"Anyway, enough of that, lets have a real catch up!" John perks.

"What do you mean 'a real catch up'?" Clara asks, genuinely confused.

"I'm sure there's more to ten years then loud noises and what jobs we have."

"Getting jobs and moving on pretty much sums up the last ten years for me." Clara nods all through the sentence.

"Moving on from what?" He asks.

"Nothing." she gives him a dismissive nod.

He scoops up the milk and custard, walking over to the fridge and opening it.

"How's your mum?" He asks, his face practically in the fridge.

Clara feels her stomach twist slightly, it's been years, and she's done what everyone else does when they loose someone, grieve, pulled themselves together and moved on.

"She passed away a year after we moved." Clara answers in a low voice, putting tinned food in the cupboards.

"Oh, Clara I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-" He starts.

"It's ok! It's fine." She interrupts him.

"How's your dad?" He asks, as if on instinct.

"He's good, met a women at work called Linda who is now his girlfriend so he's ok."

"And I take it you don't really get along with her, judging by your lack of enthusiasm." John giggles to himself.

"At least someone has picked up on that."

"Yeah well it looks like I can still read you like a book." He grins to himself, picking up the chips and fish fingers and placing them in the freezer part of the fridge.

"So how are your parents?" she asks.

"They're good, my mum's still on a mission to find me a wife." Johns enthusiasm quickly disappears.

"What, you're still single?" Clara asks, then immediately regrets it when she realizes how bad it sounds.

"Don't sound so surprised, how 'bout you? Is there a Mr Oswald?" he doesn't seem too offended by the comment.

"No, still single."

"Oh, good." his eye grow wide in alarm as soon as he finishes his sentence.

"Good?" she pretends to be offended.

"No, not good, definitely not good at all. I just-"

"Relax!" she interrupts him yet again.

"What are you doing still single? Shouldn't you be out doing young things, w-w-with young people?" He continues, doing a weird dance of pointing up in one direction, then down in the opposite direction, before doing a very intimate looking dance move.

"What, you mean like you for instance, down boy." she gives him a flirtatious nod.

"No I just meant, wha'! Shut up!" He blushes slightly at her flirting, then gasps dramatically, as if he has finally caught on, "Shh-".

Clara struggles to contain a laugh at his niaveness, but soon he's joining in as well.

"Same old John then? Blushes at the slightest bit of flirting, and has no trouble letting himself in to other peoples houses?"

"You were the one who needed help! So I guess you're still the same old Clara then, short and bossy with a funny nose?" He laughs to himself.

"Oi!" Clara complains, throwing the first thing she can grab at him, which happens to be a pineapple.

He manages to catch it, but immediately lets go of it as it digs into his skin.

"Ow!" he moans, running his fingers over his injured hand.

"That didn't hurt!"

"Yes it did!" He moans.

"Do you want me to bandage it up and kiss it better for you?" Clara teases.

"That's not such a bad idea, JOKE!" He quickly blurts.

"Well, looks like that's it!" I change the subject now all the food is unpacked.

"Where do you wanna go now?" John leans over the counter, arms folded.

"What do you mean?" she raises an eyebrow at him.

"Well a five minute unpacking session is hardly gonna cover ten years of not seeing each other.

"How about hot chocolate and jammie dodgers, just like old times?" Clara suggests, the corner of her mouth tugging into a smile.

"You still remember that?" John seems genuinely surprised.

"Course I do!"

"Ok then, there's a café just down the road if you wanna go there?"

"Sure."

With that, Clara grabs her coat and walks out the door.

After a ten minute walk, John and Clara eventually found the cafe John mentioned.

"After you..." John holds the door open.

"Thanks."

"Table for two is it?" A small waitress approaches them, a white apron tied around her waist.

"Yep." John and Clara reply in sync, turning to smile at each other.

The waitress joins in with the beaming, before walking them to a table next to the window, with two chairs on either side.

"Do you know what you would like to order?" The waitress asks, pen poised over her pad.

"Two hot chocolates and some Jammie Dodgers please." John beams.

After writing the order down, the waitress turns on her heel and walks away.

"So do you know anyone else 'round here?" Clara asks, desperate to get a conversation going.

"Yeah. Do you remember two people called Amy Pond and Rory Williams?" John asks.

"Is Amy that girl who was always getting in trouble with another girl called Mels?" Clara tries to confirm the slight memory in her head.

"The very same. And Rory?"

"He was the one who was always hanging around with the girls, wasn't he?"

John chuckles, "Yeah, even though he'll never admit it."

"You still know them?"

"Yeah, they live in the other block of apartments, together."

"Are they married?" Clara asks, trying to mask the shock from her voice, she had never really been one for primary/ secondary school relationships.

"Mhmm."

"Wow." Is all Clara can think to say.

"You should meet them, they haven't half changed!" John beams.

"Sure thing Doctor." Clara replies with a smirk.

"Oh god, I remember that game! Half of our year thought we were mental!" John turns embaressed at the memory.

"We were." Clara deadpans, causing John to sneer sarcastically.

Just then the waitress arrives with their drinks and biscuits, awkwardly eyeing Johns sneering face. John quickly turns his expression back to normal, blushing slightly, much to Clara's amusement.

After thirty minutes of catching up and drinking hot chocolate, John pipes up the idea of reuniting with the 'Ponds' as he refers to them, much to Clara's relief, a small part of her not wanting to say goodbye just yet.

"Come on then." John beams, standing up and taking Clara's hand, walks out the door.


	2. The Ponds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara meets the Ponds!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long, I'm trying to overcome a writers block.
> 
> Let me now what you think!

John Smith walked around the edges of the playground, keeping near to the walls.

"Oi loser!" A voice called from behind.

The young boy turned slowly, coming face-to-face with another boy, a few inches taller than him, with dirty blonde hair.

"Hello Harold." John greeted through gritted teeth.

"What did you call me!?" The blonde boy boomed, grabbing the brunette by the shoulders and pinning him to the wall behind him.

"Sorry, I meant hello Master!" John quipped, trying to free himself from the boys tight grip.

"That's better." The Master let go of the boy.

John attempted to walk away, but the blonde stepped in his way.

"Where do you think your going?"

"As far away from you as possible," John retorted.

"As much as I would like that, I'm afraid to tell you that I need someone to push around, and your the perfect target."

The next few seconds passed by in a blur, The Master drew his hand back and punched John square in the nose, causing the brunettes head to whack against the wall behind him.

"What do you think your doing?" Another voice called from behind the Master.

Both boys turned their attention to the owner of the voice.

Stood about a metre away from the Master, was a short girl with butt-long brown hair styled into a braid, clad in a red jacket.

"Restoring justice to the universe of you must know." The Master loomed over her.

"By beating up a boy." The girl raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes." The Master hissed, "What's it got to do with you? I suggest you turn 'round and walk off, before you get the same treatment."

"You're wrong." The girl deadpanned.

"What?" The blonde looked genuinely confused.

"It's you who will be getting the same treatment."

Before anyone could do anything, the girl punched the Master in the jaw, the pressure sending him flying to the floor.

"Are you ok?" The brunette girl approached the brunette boy, placing a hand on his shoulder.

It took the boy a moment to come back to earth, before he managed to stutter a reply.

"Y-yes, I-I'm fine."

"God, he gave you a good punch didn't he?" Her hand came up, hovering over his bleeding nose.

"You should have felt it." John teased, causing them to both giggle.

"C'mon, lets get you to the office and see if they'll let us use the first aid kit." The girl slipped a hand under the boys arm, helping him to his feet.

"What's your name?" John asked, holding open the door.

"Clara. What's yours?"

"John."

xxx

Clara Oswald walked through the streets of London, her deep red dress flowing in the wind, and the buckles on her boots clinking as she tried to keep up with the tall brunette   
beside her.

"Did you ever meet Amy before you moved?" John Smith, the childish brunette asked.

"Briefly. We spoke once during a detention, but that was about it, apart from a few nods of recognition in the playground." Clara answered.

"I'm sure you'll get on swell." John grinned.

As soon as they approached the large block of apartments, John pressed a button next to the label 'Pond Residence'.

"Hello?" A Scottish voice replied after a while.

"Pond, it's John."

"Raggedy Man!" the voice squealed, making the two brunettes flinch in shock, "Hold on a second, I'll let you in.".

The intercom buzzed before the door was finally unlocked.

"Why did she call you Raggedy Man?" Clara asked as they made their way up the stairs.

"Long story." John waved off her question, though she was still curious.

The Pond's apartment was on the third floor, so not too high of a climb. After going through several corridors, they eventually found themselves outside of an apartment   
with '117' in fancy gold writing on the door.

John gave a rhythmic tap on the door.

A squeal emitted from the other side of the door, and a split second later, the door flew open, to reveal a tall red head in a short skirt.

"Raggedy Man! Who's this?" The women turned to Clara, who became rather nervous under her gaze.

"Amy this is Clara, Clara this is Amy!" John pointed to each of them in turn.

"Clara? Why does that ring a bell?" Amy looked toward John, eyebrows knitted together.

"She's how we first met..." John gave Clara a proud smile, who was slightly taken aback at his statement.

"Oh yeah, we had detention together didn't we! Come in, come in!" Amy waved for them to follow her.

"After you..." John indicated into the house with his arm.

The Pond's flat was very well decorated, framed pictures hanging in front of light blue walls, one particular picture caught Clara's attention. There was a man with dirty blonde hair that was gelled back, next to him was John and on the other side of him was Amy, they were all making silly faces at the camera, with some sort of drink in their hand.

"Sit down, make yourself at home, I'll go get Rory." Amy led them into the living room, pointing to the sofa before walking of down the small hallway.

Clara giggled at the way John flopped himself onto the sofa, his fringe bouncing through the air.

As Clara sat down, she noticed even more pictures of the trio, laughing and smiling.

"We've had some great times." John piped up, noticing how Clara's gaze was fixed on the wall of pictures.

"I can see." Clara replied.

"...and guess who's with him..." Amy's voice chimes down the hallway, instinctively John and Clara stand-up.

Amy returns with a the dirty blonde haired man from the photos, the first thing Clara notices is his nose, which could poke her eye out if she got close enough, it was almost the   
same size as Johns chin, they could fence!

"Dear god! It's Clara Oswald!" The man seems taken aback by her presence, "You haven't changed a bit!" He holds out his arms, moving in for a hug.

"Clara's a bit slow, you'll have to try and help her remember." John places an arm on her shoulder, while Clara swats him in the stomach at the insult.

"I do remember you, he's just trying to embarrass me like he used to."

"You used to call me Nina, didn't you?" Rory points a curious finger Clara.

Clara's eyes widen at the memory, "Oh god I did, didn't I?" she feels a heat creep up her cheeks.

"How about I put the kettle on, then we all sit down and have a catch up?" Amy suggested.

"Great." John gives her two thumbs-up.

After ten minutes of sorting out who wants what in their tea and coffee's, the group sit on the two sofa's John and Clara on one, Amy and Rory on the other with the coffee table in between them.

"What did you mean, I'm how you first met?" Clara asks John, who turns pink slightly, confusing her for a moment.

"Are you going to tell her, or shall I?" Amy grins at Johns embarrassed face.

When he doesn't give an answer straight away, Amy just tells Clara herself. "Basically, when you left, John here was bullied slightly, seen as how he had no friends..."

"Oi!" John pretends to be offended by her remark, but grins anyway.

"Anyway, one day in class a boy called Harold Saxon, do you remember him, dirty blonde hair, very up himself?" Amy's hands fly everywhere, just like Johns.

"Unfortunately, yes." the mere thought of him is enough to make Clara's blood turn cold.

 

"He said something about you, he still won't tell me what it was..." Amy points toward John, "...and John punched him in the face. Resulting in a huge fight between them."

Clara's eyes practically inflate, while her eyebrows travel to her hairline, she never thought John would be the kind of person to lash out like that.

"He got a detention and at the same time, I did." Amy points between her and John.

"When were you not in detention..." Rory quips, to which Amy just agrees.

"By the time he got there, his uniform was all ripped and covered in dirt, hence why I call him Raggedy Man."

"In my defence, he had it coming." John points out.

"Suppose he did actually." Amy agrees.

"Changing the subject entirely, how did you two find each other?" Rory asks.

"We live next door to each other now." Clara and John replied in unison.

Amy and Rory gave side long glances at each other, biting their lips.

"Fair warning Clara, do not leave this man alone in your kitchen, he is constantly on the fridge raid. Has he had all your fish fingers and custard yet?" Amy warns.

"No, does he really eat them things together?" Clara feels sick at the thought of eating fish fingers and custard together.

"It's not as bad as it sounds." John tries to defend himself.

"Why would you eat them together?" Is all Clara needs to know.

"We got drunk one night and that was the only thing he would eat." Amy explained when it became evident John wasn't going to.

"We offered him everything, apples, yoghurt, bacon which for some reason he thought we were trying to poison him with, beans which he thought were evil, when we gave him   
bread and butter, he threw it outside and nearly killed our neighbours cat!" Rory goes through the list to Clara.

"Apparently carrots were insane, but fish custard wasn't!" Amy adds.

Clara turns to see Johns face, his cheeks are bright red as he smiles at her sheepishly.

"I've got a few embarrassing stories about John when we were in Primary." Clara stated, to which Johns face went from red to panicked.

"Ooh tell all, tell all..." Amy sat forward eagerly.

"One ti-..." Clara began, but was cut off when John clamped his hand over her mouth.

"If you tell Amy any of my embarrassing stories, I will tell her yours, and believe me this women never forgets." John threats, slowly moving his hand from her mouth.

"Alright, nobody called the fun police!" Clara's voice drips with sass.

John just sneers in return, but soon smiles anyway.

"So you two have embarrassing stories of each other, I'm gonna have to get you drunk to make you spill the beans aren't I?" Amy asks, with a sly look in her eye.

"There's no need for threats Pond." John moves his hands up and down in a 'calm down' kind of way.

The hours pass by like minutes, and eventually Clara and John decide to go home.

Despite Johns protests, Amy gives them a lift.

"You can't even drive Pond!" John whines as they get in the blue Micra.

"I so can!" Amy defends.

"You cheated on your test, you wore a skirt!" Rory adds.

"It was any old skirt." Amy mutters to Clara.

The car drive couldn't have gone quick enough, turns out Amy was a terrible driver, especially at corners.

"Well, thanks for nearly killing us Pond!" John chastises as he climbs out the car.

"Your welcome!" She calls back.

After going up the flights of stairs, John and Clara stop outside their doors.

"Well, today was great, glad I moved here now." Clara beams.

"Yeah, what were the odds of that happening?" John beams back.

"Night." Clara opens the door to her apartment, John doing the same.

"Night."

The events of the day run through Clara's mind as she lays in bed.

He hasn't asked the questions she thought he would...

He hasn't brought up memories she thought he would...

He didn't even yell at her, he was just happy she's back...

With an exasperated sigh, Clara turned off her light and went to sleep, the memories of her childhood running through her mind.


	3. Old Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John brings up old memories... and not all of them are good...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third instalment here!  
> Sorry it took so long, trying to overcome a writers block.  
> Please let me know what you think!  
> Also please note in this memory they are 14 years old.

_"Do you have to go?" John weeps into Clara's shoulder, which is already damp from his tears._

_"I don't have a choice." Clara tried and failed to control her tears._

_"I don't want you to go." He whimpered, holding her a margin tighter._

_"I don't want to either bu-" Clara started to reply but was interrupted by her dad blaring the car horn._

_"Clara come on sweetie, we have to leave no-OW!" Clara's dad called from the car window, but was stopped short by her dad pinching his arm._

_"Shut up! They're saying goodbye!"_

_With one last tight squeeze, Clara let go of John, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, to which he returned with one on her forehead._

_John held the car door open for her as she slowly climbed in, slowly closing it behind her._

_As the car began to pull away, Clara turned to look out the back of the car, that's when she noticed John running behind it, trying to keep up._

_"Should I run him over?" Dave Oswald joked, but no one laughed, Clara ignored him while her mum shot daggers at him._

_Clara pulled back from her and Johns embrace slightly, their faces inches apart._

_She had known him for seven years now, they were like brother and sister, always having sleepovers together and always spending their entire weekend together. But there were times when she felt like they were more then just friends, and now was one of them._

_John seemed to be leaning in, and to her surprise she was doing the same, she could feel his breath on her face, she was about one inch away from his mouth._

_But then she remembered where she was, in the middle of the street in front of her parents who were probably watching her every move._

_"Promise you'll keep in touch?" Clara whispered._

_"I promise." John whispered back._

_John stopped when he reached the end of the street, waving both hands through the air wildly. Clara waved back, until he was completely out of sight, only then did she slump back into her seat and fasten her seatbelt._

* * *

 

Clara slowly woke up, realizing what happened yesterday really happened.

She had found John, not that she was really looking for him though, she didn't want to admit that it might have been her fault she never saw him again, she was the one who lost contact after a while, making excuses and moving on from her only true friend.

A repeated knocking and chime of her doorbell broke her from her thoughts. Clara knew there was only one person who would be so insistent that someone would answer the door this early in the morning.

Jumping out of bed, she sprinted to the door.

"Clara!" John grinned from ear to ear, arms opened wide.

"Chinny!" Clara repeated his action of opening her arms out.

"Oi! What is wrong with my chin!" John's hand flew to his chin.

"Careful dear, you'll put someones eye out."

"Oh haha." John sneered sarcasticaly, "Why are you still in your PJ's at this hour?" He asked, taking in her appearance of a vest, a black strapped t-shirt and black and white checked bottoms.

"You woke me up! And it's still early!" Clara whined.

"It's 7:30!"

"See you haven't lost your OCD-ish punctualityness!" Clara moved out the way so he could come in.

"Is that even a word?" John asked over his shoulder.

"I have no idea."

"Well you clearly haven't got OCD, judging by the state of this place..." John muttered mostly to himself.

"Hey!" Clara punched his arm.

"Ow!" John rubbed his now sore arm.

"I didn't get the chance yesterday seen as how you dragged me across the streets of London! Anyway it's only a few boxes, or a few tens of hundreds of boxes..." Clara's voice trailed off.

"Oh and by the way, Amy wants to see you again." John beams.

"Is she already missing me?" Clara asked, with a slight divarishness, yet another word she wasn't sure was real.

"No she misses me, but thought it would be rude to leave you out so..." John's voice was equally as sarcastic.

"I can't, like you said, I have to tidy this place up."

"I can help with that." John offered.

"Thanks, but I've got to go in the shower."

"Great, you stink." John quickly turned his head away as Clara shot daggers at him.

"Would you like to repeat that?" Clara asked through gritted teeth.

"No."

John didn't have enough time to run, as Clara came at him like a bull, punching him in the chest and on the arm.

"You. Are. Finished." Clara threatened with each punch she threw.

"Ok! Ok! I'm sorry!" John apoligised when he realized she wasn't gonna stop.

"Good." Clara immediately stopped.

"Seriously though, get showered, I'll unpack whatever, then we can go to Amy's." John quickly shuffled her into the bathroom.

"Alright, but only unpack the things that are appropriate for you to see." Clara pointed a finger at him, the last thing she wanted was for her best friend to rummage through her underwear.

"You're the Boss." John playfully saluted her.

Clara took a step outside the bathroom, "Am I?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"No. No! Get showered, quickly now!" John ushered her back into the bathroom.

* * *

 

After a super short shower, Clara quickly checked up on John to see how he was getting on.

"What are you doing?" She asked from the doorway of the living room, holding her blue towel tightly around her.

She noticed he was sat staring at what looked like a photo album, with a box next to him.

"I just foun- oh for gods sake, put your clothes on Clara!" John quickly averted his eyes when he realized she was only in a towel.

Clara scoffed and rolled her eyes, walking back to her bedroom. She quickly pulled out a dark blue dress and black tights.

"Satisfied?" Clara asked as she walked back into the living room, brushing her wet hair from her face, looking for a box that might have a hairdryer.

"Yes." John replied.

"What are you looking at?" Clara asked upon noticing he still had the same photo album in his hands.

"Us." Was his short reply.

Confused as to what he meant, Clara plopped herself next to him on the sofa. Finally managing to get a good look at what he was holding, Clara realized it was an old photo album she had when she was in school.

"It's us!" John beamed, pulling a picture of Clara and him when they were younger out of the plastic pocket. They were about eight, both had their arms wrapped around the others neck, large cheesy grins on their faces. Clara had to fight back a giggle and John's mostly toothless grin.

"Can I keep this? I don't think I have any pictures of us." John asks.

"Can I keep that one? It may come in handy for whenever I want to embaress you." Clara grinned, remembering how self-conscious he used to be about his teeth.

"Fine. Oh, I like this one." The corner of John's lip turned up in a sly smile.

Clara looked at the photo he was pointing to, and her eyes inflated. It was a picture of her when she was around thirteen in a purple dressing gown, her mouth was in a sort of sneering position, and her hair was a birds nest.

"You are not taking that one!" Clara tried to make a grab for it, but John extended it further away from her.

"I think I might, may come in handy." John was now grinning like a cheshire cat.

"You can keep the other one, just give that one back!" Clara was now crawling ontop of him, desperate to reach the picture.

"Is that a deal? Shake on it?" John held his hand out for her. Clara quickly shook on it, taking the picture back.

The next ten minutes was spent rooting through the album, and deciding who could keep what picture depending on how embaressing they were.

"Why did you stop talking to me?" John asked after a while.

Clara's heart dropped to her stomach, even though she knew he was going to ask sooner or later.

"You kept in touch for a few months, then you just stopped."

"We were in contact for a while, but then I had exams, so I didn't have much free time, as my parents made me revise. Then my mum died, and it got harder to pick up the phone. It was easier to move on and leave it all behind, then to keep looking back at my old life." Clara piped up after a while.

Much to Clara's relief, John didn't ask anything else about the matter.

"Come on then. To Amy's!" John pulled Clara off the sofa.

"My hairs still wet!" Clara protested.

"Well find a hair dryer then!"

"I have one but it's lost in one of the boxes." Clara pointed to the various boxes that were littering her living room floor.

"Well just, put a brush through it and stick your head out the car window!" John suggested as if it was the best idea in the world.

"I'll do one of those things." Clara's voice dripped with sarcasm.

* * *

 

"I have found some _amazing_ pictures of John here that you just _have_ to see!" Amy says with a coy grin.

"Please don't Pond!" John whines.

Amy hands Clara a purple photo album, ignoring John's protests.

"How many tweeds have you had?" Clara asks in shock.

"Half a dozen." Rory walks into the room with four cups of tea on a tray.

Flicking through the pictures, Clara takes in all the tweed jackets John has owned over the years. One with brown patched elbows and brown cuff buttons, another that had a checked pattern on it, a brown non-tweed-but-more-cowboy jacket, and the purple one he's wearing now.

One thing that is repetetive in them is the bow-ties.

"Amy is the real reason I wear bow-ties, one time when she was drunk, she grabbed my tie and stuck it in an old mans car door!" John notices her lingering gaze.

"I remember no such thing!" Amy tries to deny John's accusation, but the fact that her face is as red as her hair gives her away.

"Probably because you were drunk!" John quips.

"Calm down chuckle brothers!" Clara moves her hands in a _'Calm down'_ way.


	4. Don't Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A face from the past comes back for John...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think!   
> In this memory they are still 14.

_"What do you mean?" Clara more shouted then asked._

_"Well, your mum and I thought that perhaps we need a change of scenery, and also I've been offered a better job." Dave Oswald explained to his beyond furious teen daughter._

_"My whole life is here! Everyone I know is here!" Clara stood up from the table._

_"Watch your attitude young lady! Most children would give anything for an opportunity like this!" Dave yelled back._

_"It's an opportunity for you, not me!" Clara ignored her dad's warning._

_"Right, calm down both of you!" Ellie Oswald yelled over her husband and daughter. "Clara, darling I know this may seem hard for you, but you'll soon settle in and make new friends." Ellie tried to keep a positive attitude._

_"I'm perfectly content with the friends I have here." Clara's voice dripped in sarcasm._

_"You mean_ friend _, I don't know why you waste your time with that John boy, he's such a weirdo for someone his age."_

_Ellie shot daggers at her husband, then passed a sympathetic glance at Clara. Instead of arguing, Clara simply pulled her chair further out, grabbing her shoes, coat and bag and storming out the door, making sure to slam it shut behind her._

* * *

 

"It's delicious, just try it!" John pressed on.

"I'd rather stick my arms in a wood chipper!" Clara protested.

"It's actually quite nice, you might like it." Amy added.

"If you don't want it, don't let them make you, trust me I let them do that to me once and they haven't stopped since." Rory defended her.

"Hush up Roranicus!" John chastised, to which Rory replied with a sarcastic sneer. "Just try it once and I'll leave you alone." John tried to bargain with her.

"Fine." Clara gave in, picking up a fish finger from the plate on the coffee table, she dipped it in the bowl of hot custard next to it, and slowly raising it to her lips, took a bite. She immediately felt sick but fought back the temptation to spit it out.

"Isn't it amazing?" John asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"No!" Clara replied when she finally managed to swallow it all.

"I told you she wouldn't like it!" Rory butted in.

"It can take a bit of getting used to." Amy tried to be convincing.

"Why would you eat that?" Clara asked after taking a large gulp from her glass of water.

"It's lovely! It's a main and a dessert all rolled into one!" John's hands flapped around as he spoke.

"Whatever you say." Clara replied sarcastically.

* * *

 

_Clara was halfway between sprinting and walking as she made her way to her only friends house. As soon as she was at the doorstep, she banged on the door. It was only ten in the morning, but John was always an early riser._

_"Hello Souffle gir- what's wrong?" John's face went from happy to concerned in a split second when he saw her tear stained face and puffy red eyes._

_"We need to talk." Was all Clara could think to say._

_"TARDIS. Now!" John grabbed her hand, pulling her inside and all the way through his house and into the back garden._

_Scaling up the wooden planks on the tree, they clambered into the small house/ room on top._

_"What's wrong?" John pulled Clara into a hug, sitting down next to her and keeping one arm wrapped around her comfortingly._

_"My mum and dad just told me that we're moving house." Clara managed to croak after a while._

_"So?" After hearing John's short reply, she realized she hadn't fully explained._

_"To Blackpool." She added._

_John's entire face fell, and Clara failed to fight back her guilt._

_"But that's miles from here, we won't see each other again, you'll forget abou-" John's short rant was interrupted when Clara pressed her lips against his._

_Time seemed to slow down, Clara looped both of her arms around John's neck, while he snaked one arm around her waist pulling her closer, and ran his other hand through her hair._

_It all seemed to be over to soon. They both had to come up for air._

_"Now there's no way I'm letting you go." John whispered._

_"John, I don't wanna go, but I have no choice." Clara's voice was barely above a whisper._

* * *

 

"I've just had the best idea ever!" Amy beamed.

"How many times have I told you _not_ to have them?" John quipped.

"Shut it, Raggedy Man!" Amy chastised. "How about we go to Wet n Wild? They have a new slide that's just been opened."

"I'm up for it, beats staying indoors, watching films and drinking tea all day." Rory shrugged.

"Yeah sure why not, but I'll have to go get my trunks." John piped.

"That doesn't matter, you can just skinny-dip." Amy flicked her hand at him. "Joking!" She quickly added as she noticed everyone's faces change.

"Hilarious Pond." John replied sarcastically.

"Are you gonna be ok Clara, you're not..." Amy started doing awkward gestures with her hands, helping Clara to quickly catch on.

"I'm fine don't worry. I'll probably have to root through some boxes, but I'm sure I'll find something to swim in."

"Right then, I'll go back home with Clara and get our stuff." John arose from his seat.

"You nearly ready?" John propped the door off the stop Clara had left it on, walking in with a sports bag slung over his shoulder.

"Nearly." Clara replied with her head in a box. It turns out she didn't own a swimsuit, so decided to use her least favourite bra and knickers, with an old white t-shirt and black shorts.

"What are you doing?" John asked upon seeing her half in a box.

"Looking for a spare towel."

"Hurry up! Why are you never one for time keeping?" John chastised.

"Give me a break! I still haven't had the chance to unpack yet!" Clara defended.

"There you are!" Amy greeted Clara and John in the middle of the car park.

"Here we are!" John held his arms out dramatically, but then immediately put them down as the sports bag began to roll off his shoulder.

"Right, well I need to change but I'll see you in there, are you coming Clara?" Amy indicated towards the building.

"Yeah." Clara pulled her purple rucksack further up her shoulder, following Amy.

"So what's it like living next door to John?" Amy asked as they entered the building.

"Best thing in the world!" John yelled from a few feet behind them.

"Whatever!" Clara yelled over her shoulder. "It's alright, I think I'm more or less the pain in the backside." Clara turned back to Amy.

"Really?" Amy seemed genuinely surprised as they made their way through to the changing rooms.

"The reason he found out I lived next to him was because he tried to draw up a complaint."

It took Clara ten minutes to get changed, as unfortunately for her, she ended up going in the cubicle that had the most mould covered tiles.

Whilst changing, it then crossed her mind that her clothes would stick to her and probably show her cleavage, but as long as she kept her arms folded, she should be ok. Although John might help if anyone did look at her in that way, he was always doing that when they were kids.

"You ready in there?" Amy tapped on the door.

"Yeah." Clara replied, pulling her shirt down.

After they all got back together, they headed to the new slide, which turned out to be a two-people-ring slide, so Amy went with Rory, and Clara with John.

Clambering between Johns legs in the front ring, they waited while the instructor moved the ring from side to side and let the water build up.

"Now whatever you do, don't pee yourself!" John spoke right into her ear.

"Shut up!" Clara elbowed him in the ribs.

"GO!" Before they could say another word, the instructor pushed the ring into the slide.

The pair screamed all the way down the steep slide, nearly falling of the ring as they moved in sharp circles. As they reached the end of the slide and hit the ramp, they were splashed with water coming out of the pipes trying to slow them down, and what seemed to be a flash of light going right into their eyes.

"And that's my new contact photo!" A familiar Scottish accent squeaked.

"What have you done Pond?" John asked, rubbing his eyes and smoothing his wet hair back.

"Just got a little mug-shot of you two looking so sweet!" Amy replied in a high-pitch voice that didn't suit her.

"Oh dear god!" Clara quickly pushed herself out of the ring, and hopped over the side of the slide. "Can I see it please?" she gave Amy a hopeful look.

Amy seemed to ponder on the idea for a moment, but eventually let Clara look at the photo.

Clara's eyes widened at the photo, she had definitely taken it at the _wrong_ time. They both had their eyes closed and their mouths open, Clara leaning flush against John's chest while he held her what looked to be quiet tight, though it didn't feel like it at the time.

"Oh no, you can't keep that Pond!" John argued from behind, trying to grab the phone off of her.

"Ah ah ah! It's my phone, besides I might need it later!" Amy pointed a finger at him.

John's face seemed to drain entirely of amusement, and he suddenly looked rather serious, a look she had never seen on him before.

"That was the most fun I've had in months!" Rory cheered as they climbed out of John's car, ready to enter John and Clara's block of apartments.

"Ahem." A cough attracted their attention and the four turned in unison.

A women with blonde curly locks stood before them, she was clad in red heels and had a green jacket wrapped tightly around her.

Everyone seemed to be shooting daggers at the women, much to Clara's confusion.

"Hello Sweetie. Can we talk?" The woman spoke towards John.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I hope you enjoyed the fluff 'cos it pretty much gets ugly now.   
> That's why the description is a bit dramatic.  
> Also, so sorry my chapters have been coming to very sudden ends, hopefully now the actual story is kicking in, it won't happen.


End file.
